Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s ambitious Clean Ganga project is gaining popularity with an agreement between India and Canada to clean up the river, in a broad spectrum way, reports Z News.
The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation signed a memorandum of understanding with India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS) for further joint water research program with Indian institutions and industry organizations.
According to the partnership, Canadian technologies will be used for waste-water treatment, water quality monitoring and management and water reduction and waste-water reuse. The pulp and paper industry would also be highlighted.
Under the Canada-India Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, Canada`s Minister of International Trade Ed Fast and India`s Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh initiated a drive for joint R & D projects.
From Canada, the IC-IMPACTS team will include universities of British Columbia, Alberta and Toronto, which will be funded through the Government of Canada`s Networks of Centers of Excellence program.
In 2008, Canada and India ratified an Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation to aiming bilateral science and technology collaboration.
A month ago, Modi Government has approved setting up “Clean Ganga Fund” (CGF), which will accept voluntary contributions from residents, non-resident Indians (NRIs), Person of Indian Origin (PIO). Domestic donors as well as foreign donors were eligible for tax benefits according to corresponding laws.
The government has planned to collect money for the river rejuvenation project from the existing `National Clean Energy Fund’ (NCEF), which finance and promote only renewable energy initiatives capitalized by imposing a cess on coal.
For this purpose, it has enlarged domain and increased the cess on coal to Rs 100 per ton from Rs 50 per ton making the quantity sufficient to finance the Clean Ganga project.
A consultative meeting to discuss industrial pollution issues in river Ganga was organized by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on September 19 which focused on installation of real-time effluent quality monitoring system by the major polluting industries located in the Ganga river basin within the planned time lime by March 31, 2015.
Sabeena Wahid
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